


I’m in love with you, why are these words so hard to say

by winkop



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, omg feelings, woojin and jaehwan are those friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-04 20:02:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14600634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winkop/pseuds/winkop
Summary: Jihoon runs the confessions page for his school and when he receives one from an anonymous sender one day and it’s about him, he suddenly cares and he’s dying to find out who it’s from, even if he seems like he can’t be bothered about it.





	1. Chapter 1

Jihoon rolls his eyes at yet another one of the messages he received asking him who he is. He’s always been asked to reveal his identity, and he didn’t really mind them at first, but now that it’s been happening countless of times, he’s tired. Not that he can complain though, when he’s the one who signed up for this. He volunteered for fun, something to entertain him when his life is so boring. But now that he’s drowning in project works and submissions, he does regret it. He guesses that a small part of him does enjoy doing this, since he gets to know of the tea going around in school, he learns about people he’s seen before but have never spoken to, people he doesn’t really care about.

But when he receives a message from an anonymous sender one day and it’s about him, he suddenly cares and he’s dying to find out who it’s from, even if he seems like he can’t be bothered about it.

 

“To the boy wearing the pink hoodie with a bear keychain attached to his bag,” Woojin reads aloud, “You’re the cutest.”

Jihoon faintly hears Woojin gasp from behind him and he’s not interested enough to ask what’s gotten into him when he’s halfway through a game. But it’s then that he’s being spun around in his chair and there’s his phone being shoved in his face by Woojin.

“I was in the middle of a game idiot! What do you want?”

“Read!” Woojin pushes the phone impossibly nearer to his face so that he can just read the most recent confession someone has sent. Woojin can tell Jihoon is reading through the message again and again and he waits for him to react. But he’s disappointed when Jihoon just turns around to continue with his game.

Woojin waves his phone in the air. “Hello? Do you not see this?”

Jihoon turns around to face him again, and his face doesn’t show the least bit of interest in it so he says lamely, “What.”

“Wha—Pink hoodie? Bear keychain? Does that not ring a bell?” Woojin’s eyes are so big right now that Jihoon wants to laugh but he doesn’t and chooses to torment his friend longer. “That’s me? And?”

“And? This guy thinks you’re cute! Don’t you want to find out who it is?”

Jihoon faces away from Woojin. “No not really. Besides, what if it’s some creepy dude who I’ve never even talked to before? And what kind of person signs off with ‘d’?

“So you can get the d.”

Woojin fucking giggles and Jihoon extends his leg to kick his butt off the bed. Woojin groans in pain from his position on the floor and Jihoon cackles. “I can’t believe someone thinks _that_ is cute.”

Jihoon pretends he doesn’t hear him and ignores him, going back to his computer.

“Whatever, you can suit yourself and be lonely all you want.”

“What do you mean, I have the bestest friend in the world don’t I?” Jihoon asks sweetly.

Woojin stares at the innocent smile Jihoon puts on and cringes. “Had. Past tense.”

Jihoon threatens to kick his ass again but he isn’t fast enough because Woojin is already slamming the door behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel ponders over sending this for the nth time that day. He can’t believe he’s so serious about this just because he saw a cute boy. But it’s not just any cute boy. It’s Park Jihoon. As in, Park Jihoon with the sparkly eyes and the beautiful smile and the even more beautiful laugh. He’s stuck thinking about him the whole day when he sees him. It’s just too bad that he’s never been able to talk to him to get closer. If anything, they’re just acquaintances, since Seongwoo is practically friends with everyone, including Jihoon. Daniel had heard of Jihoon from Seongwoo even before he met him, and when he finally did, he was a mess. He couldn’t keep eye contact with him for more than two seconds, either that or he just kept staring. There’s no in between. It’s no wonder Jihoon probably thinks he’s a creep.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts when some shakes his arm, and he remembers he’s sitting on a bench at one of the school’s study areas.

“Oh my god.”

Jaehwan greets Daniel with a smile that doesn’t seem to care about what’s gotten him so horrified. Instead, he moves closer to look at the screen on his phone but before he can, Daniel shouts at him.

“You made me send it!” Daniel cries and lies his head down on the table.

“Send what?” Jaehwan makes a move to grab Daniel’s phone out of his hands and read.

After a few seconds, Daniel hears Jaehwan’s voice again.

“Isn’t this Jihoonie?”

Just then, a group of students start to go down the stairs from the classrooms and among them, Daniel spots Jihoon. He doesn’t even realise he’s staring at the boy, and he also doesn’t notice that Jaehwan has been watching him this whole time.

“You like Jihoon?”

Daniel turns around to face Jaehwan and to tell him that no,

“I didn’t sa—”

“Jihoon!”

Daniel whips his head around to see Jihoon and Woojin looking their way. I repeat, Jihoon is looking their way. Jaehwan isn’t helping because he waves at them, asking them to come over, and Daniel has to take some time to compose himself and play it cool.

And to Daniel, play it cool apparently means leaning his head on his hand on saying, “’Sup.”

“Uhm,” The look on Jihoon’s face shows that he is a little confused because this is the first Daniel has talked to him so casually, but he figures he could get used to this and smiles. “Hi hyungs!”

“We were just about to text you guys.” Jaehwan says, glancing at Daniel and smirking before turning back to Woojin and Jihoon.

Daniel returns Jaehwan’s glance with wary stare. “We were?”

“Why yes, we were.” Jaehwan keeps his eyes on Jihoon and Woojin, but his hand moves to slap Daniel on the back of his neck, telling him to just shut up and leave everything to him.

“Daniel was going to invite you guys to our house on Friday for a small get-together.”

“Hm? What’s the occasion?” The looks Jihoon and Woojin have on their faces makes Daniel feel bad for them having to listen to Jaehwan. Except Jihoon directed the question to him, and now he doesn’t know how to answer him and it’s all because of his idiot of a best friend.

So Daniel panics and chokes on nothing, but Jaehwan comes to save him. “Does there need to be an occasion to spend time with our favourite people?”

Everyone looks at Jaehwan like he’s grown another head, so he pauses. “It’s to celebrate the end of the school week.”

Daniel covers his face out of embarrassment because of course, only Jaehwan would come up with something oh so brilliant. 

This is the only time Daniel speaks up and he clears his throat. “Then shouldn’t we be having a party every week?”

With Jaehwan around, he doesn’t have a say in this because Jaehwan slaps the back of his neck again. And it hurts.

He just gives both Woojin and Jihoon an apologetic smile and a wave when they say they have to leave and that they’ll be there at their house on Friday.

When they’re out of sight, Daniel glares at his friend. “What are you trying to do.”

“I’m trying to help you out of course. Duh.” Jaehwan pats his shoulder and walks ahead of him.

“But I never asked for your help! I’m fine with just liking him from afar, I love it even!” Daniel whines.

“Shh…you’ll thank me later. You’re welcome.”

Daniel can only worry about not messing it up with Jihoon now that he’s given the chance.

 

 

 

 

 

When the end of the week comes, Daniel is both excited and nervous. Who is he kidding, he’s totally nervous and Jaehwan isn’t making him feel any better when he keeps belting out verses from Skyfall. They haven’t really prepared much for the gathering later, figuring they’d just order in and watch a movie. There’s still a few hours left, so this gives Daniel enough time to try and keep it together.

 

“’Sup.”

He’s leaning against the door frame this time, and he thinks he pulls it off better than the first. Except this time Jihoon replies with a scrunch of his nose and grins at him.

“’Sup.” Jihoon says before walking in, and Daniel follows behind him, leaving Woojin and Seongwoo to walk themselves into their home. 

 

The five of them find themselves sitting on the floor in front of the tv, not before Jaehwan brings out the alcohol and Seongwoo lets out a roar of cheers.

“Alcohol? You didn’t say anything about alcohol?” Daniel questions, not that he minds but this only makes him curious to find out how Jihoon is like when he’s drunk.

“Well then I’m saying it now. Everyone, we’re having alcohol!” Jaehwan shakes his butt for all the world to see and Seongwoo joins him in his little dance.

Daniel burst out in laughter because how stupid his friends look, when he feels Jihoon scooching over to whisper in his ear.

“You sure they aren’t drunk already?”

This just makes Daniel laugh even harder, and then everyone else except Jihoon is looking at him strangely, so he purses his lips, feeling awkward. He swears his face is red from laughing too hard and not because of the feeling of Jihoon’s warm breath ghosting across his neck.

 

 

 

 

They’re halfway through the movie that they’re not paying attention to, when Seongwoo speaks up.

“Jihoon ah, how’s the confessions account going?” Seongwoo asks.

It must have been evident that Daniel and Jaehwan had no idea what they were talking about because Woojin proceeds to explain further.

“Ah, Jihoon runs the confessions page for our school. We’re not supposed to tell anyone, but we can trust you right?”

Daniel goes rigid upon hearing this.

“Jihoon runs the confessions page…? Ah!” Jaehwan shouts after the realization hits him, and everyone other than his best friend is staring at him.

“Why what’s wrong?” Seongwoo asks.

Jaehwan takes a glance at Daniel and he knows Daniel is most probably threatening to disown him as a best friend in his head if he says another word that can expose him and his huge crush. He can tell from how he glares at him. That, and the toes that are pinching his from underneath the table.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Just as Daniel thinks they’re done with the topic, he starts to relax again but Woojin has to ruin it for him.

“Jihoonie got a confession the other day. As in, confession.” Woojin waggles his eyebrows at Jihoon.

“Oh?” And Jaehwan has the nerve to turn and do his own eyebrow waggle at Daniel, only for him to face a Daniel who is clearly not paying attention to him at the moment. Instead, Daniel is looking at Jihoon showing his confession to Seongwoo and he thinks his life might be over in that moment.

“So, are you going to look for the d boy?”

Daniel chokes. On his drink. That’s never good. He doesn’t know if he’s living or dying because he feels Jihoon’s hand rubbing on his back and he’s so scared Jihoon can somehow feel his heart beating like mad because of him. So he clears his throat to seem like he’s doing okay and he’s gonna be okay. (He’s not really okay)

 

Jihoon explains. Jihoon explains and his face shows that he’s blushing and he’s a little shy. Daniel resists the urge to cup his face right there and then. “We’re not on a hunt for him or anything, it’s just that maybe it’d be nice to know who he is.”

“And get the d.” Woojin snickers, and Seongwoo hears him, Jaehwan hears him, but Daniel doesn’t because he’s too distracted by the fact that with just a few words, it is so easy to make Jihoon smile. And Daniel wants to see that smile again.

 

 

 

A few more drinks later, Seongwoo and Woojin have passed out on each other and Jaehwan is rolling around on the floor (like the gudetama he is). And a few more drinks later, there’s a pink-faced Jihoon who’s all giggly and shit, Daniel thinks he’s never been so blessed to hear his laugh so close to him. He doesn’t notice that he’s getting nearer until he feels something heavy leaning on him, and when Daniel turns to his side, Jihoon’s head is on his shoulder and his face is too close to his.

Maybe it’s the alcohol that makes him dare to look at Jihoon’s face all he wants, appreciate it for all he wants, so his eyes go over his pretty eyelashes, his sharp nose and his pink lips that are in pout. His eyes settle there for longer than two seconds and Daniel thinks it’s a new record.

Pretty sure it’s the alcohol because Daniel would never be able to run his fingers through Jihoon’s fluffy, tousled brown hair, and he would never be able to caress his cheek like he’s doing now.

All of a sudden there’s a light flashing on their faces and Jihoon furrows his eyebrows because of the brightness, so Daniel uses his hands to cover both his and Jihoon’s eyes. When the flash is gone, Daniel opens his eyes again to see Jaehwan grinning at something on his phone. “What the fuck, Jaehwan?”

“Aw, isn’t this really cute?” Jaehwan coos, and he shows Daniel a photo. It’s of him and Jihoon snuggled up together, and Daniel wouldn’t really be complaining except for the fact that he has his hand on Jihoon’s cheek and the look he wears on his face is so endearing. “You look so in love.”

“Jaehwan.”

“But,” Jaehwan pouts because he already knows Daniel wants him to get rid of it.

“Jaehwan.” Daniel repeats, and he gives him a death glare that makes Jaehwan snort, because no, he doesn’t feel threatened at all, we’re talking about the guy whose greatest enemies are bugs.

“Fine, I’ll get rid of it. Don’t worry I’ll send it to your phone before I do.” Jaehwan smirks.

Daniel is just too tired to deal with anything, so he goes back to the warmth that Jihoon offers and leans against him before shutting his eyes, and he hums softly before drifting off to sleep. If Jihoon had felt anything during that time, he never made a move.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel wants to say there is some kind of progress between him and Jihoon because every time Jihoon sees him in school, he’ll send a wave his way, sometimes even separating from his group of friends and coming over to talk. And Daniel is getting better at coping with how Jihoon smiles brightly whenever he sees him so that’s. Progress.

 

The second time Daniel visits the school’s confession page is when he’s in the library, and Jihoon is sitting right in front of him. It’s risky, when Jihoon can just look over and see what he’s doing, but Daniel feels brave and types out what he wants to say.

“teddy bear keychain boy wore glasses today and he looks good.” – d

Sure, maybe it’s cringy, but it’s too late to turn back now when he’s already sent it and Jihoon is reaching out to check the notification on his phone. Daniel watches him to look for a reaction, and he smiles when Jihoon blushes. So Daniel asks, “What are you smiling about?”

Jihoon looks up from his phone and shakes his head, but he doesn’t hide the smile on his face. “Nothing.”

“How can it be nothing when you’re smiling like that?” Daniel grins.

He ends up smiling with him because he knows that he’s the reason why Jihoon is literally glowing, and he has no regrets about sending the confession, and maybe he wants to keep doing it.

 

 

 

“Hey, we should get going.”

Daniel nods and hurriedly packs his things, following Jihoon to the lift. They’re not the only ones at lift lobby, and they’re slowly joined by other students on the same level. The lift takes years to come to the level they are on, since it is the highest, and when it does come students fill up the space immediately, pushing Daniel and Jihoon to the corner. 

The lift just keeps getting more crowded at each level it stops at, and at one point there’s not enough space for anyone to get on. It’s at this moment that Daniel has to hold on to the railing at the sides just so he doesn’t stumble and step on someone else’s shoe, but he’s also trapping Jihoon within his arms, and he can even nuzzle into Jihoon’s hair if he moves just a little (but he’s not going to). His body is stiff, and he can’t move. He doesn’t want to make Jihoon any more comfortable than he already is, he just hopes that the beating of his heart and the red flush he has on his ears are not obvious to the boy in front of him.

Not like Jihoon is doing any better. His breath hitches when Daniel gets so close, that he squeaks out a “hyung.”

Daniel still manages to hear him though, no matter how soft he was, and he answers back in a low whisper. “‘M sorry.”

Jihoon knows his face must look like a tomato right now, so he lowers his head just so Daniel can’t see him, but his forehead meets with Daniel’s right shoulder. Jihoon flinches when he realises their position and he moves to give Daniel some space when Daniel hums to tell him that it’s okay for him to rest his head there. It’s not as comfortable as he thinks, with all the people surrounding them and for some unknown reason (i know) he feels butterflies in his tummy. When they reach the first floor though, everyone else rushes out of the lift while Jihoon and Daniel stay as they are until they’re the last ones to leave. Daniel finally lets Jihoon go before he runs out of the lift shouting that he’ll see him tomorrow.

“Hyung your phone!”

But alas (haha), Daniel was already out of the library and considering the fact that he ran, he’s probably off campus already.

 

 

 

Jihoon is in his room with Woojin that he decides that he’ll leave Daniel a small present before he returns him his phone tomorrow, so he opens the front camera and starts taking selfies. He makes cute faces, funny faces, and a lot of them are with Woojin in the background playing with his foot. When he goes to check the photos, he accidentally swipes back into a recent photo and he’s shocked to see it’s from that day of the end-of-the-week party. His first thought is _is that what i look like when i’m sleeping?_ But the longer he stares at the photo, he notices how Daniel gazes at him and how the butterflies from earlier are coming back to him. He rubs his chest, like as if that’ll make his heart calm down.


	2. Chapter 2

When Daniel reaches his and Jaehwan’s room, he slams himself face down on his bed. “I want to die.” 

Jaehwan freezes halfway trying to eat his instant noodles. “That’s nice.” Then he sets his cup down on a table and asks, “What happened?”

Daniel sits up on his bed and his face heats up when he recalls the moment in the lift again, so he drops back down in his bed and kicks his legs around and screams out of frustration. He knows Jaehwan is most likely staring at him strangely but that is the least of his concerns when he can’t believe he literally had Jihoon in his arms earlier. He doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing, but he knows that he was blushing so hard that Jihoon probably knows about his crush on him now, Jihoon is never gonna want to see him again, speak to him again, and he’s ruined it all. Daniel sits up and hits his head multiple times because he feels stupid. “Idiot.”

He only remembers that Jaehwan is in the room with him when he turns his head and Jaehwan is still looking at him like he’s a different species. “I knew you were going mad but I didn’t think it’d happen so soon.”

“So, are you going to tell me what you did or not?”

 

 

 

Daniel somehow manages to relate the story to Jaehwan but not without his head buried in his pillow to hide how his face keeps heating up, and him kicking his blanket and also grabbing at his hair while doing so. Jaehwan being the best friend he is just cackles while listening to him and Daniel even thinks he sees him wiping the tears forming at his eyes from laughing. “I told you so you’d help me, not so you’d laugh at me.”

“Okay but get this. Woojin told me that Jihoon has your phone right now.”

Daniels eyes are bulging out and Jaehwan loses it. “Oh my god he’s gonna find out I’m,” he pauses and whispers, “The d guy.” 

“Fuck, why are you whispering? There’s no one here just say it. Daniel is the d guy!” Jaehwan shrieks.

Daniel throws a pillow at Jaehwan to shut him up. “Kim Jaehwan if you say a word about this I swear."

Jaehwan catches the pillow and throws it back. “Relax.” Jaehwan then turns around and mutters to himself, “I only told Woojin.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel waits for Jihoon at the library again the next day and he’s nervous as hell. They’ve gotten used to meeting up for study dates whenever they don’t have class but Daniel isn’t even sure if Jihoon is gonna show up today. He’s already nervous with him around, but now there’s a possibility of Jihoon knowing about his crush on him, and he doesn’t know what to expect. It feels like he’s been waiting for hours (read: 15 minutes) and Jihoon still hasn’t shown up, and Daniel just wants to go home at this point. He doesn’t expect Jihoon to come rushing in and take a seat across from him while he’s packing his stuff. 

“Sorry I’m late. Where are you going? Sit.”

Daniel is too dumbfounded to form words so he listens to Jihoon and sits down. He continues to gawk at Jihoon, waiting for him to say something, anything. As though Jihoon could feel Daniel’s penetrating stare on him, he looks up only for Daniel to look away immediately. “Oh right, your phone.”

Jihoon digs his bag for Daniel’s phone and when he finds it, he moves to hand it over. When Daniel sees his phone, he’s never felt so relieved, but before he can retrieve it from Jihoon’s hands, Jihoon pulls back. “Hyung I found something interesting yesterday.” 

Daniel squirms in his seat and he really thinks. He might die. “Haha, what is it?”

He lets Jihoon go through his phone to find whatever he wants and he can’t even think straight because he keeps shaking his leg under the table out of nervousness. Jihoon holds the phone to show him exactly what he found and he doesn’t know if he should be grateful or not that it’s the picture of them that Jaehwan took and not his confessions to him. Daniel finally lets out the breath he was holding and he realises that Jihoon is still waiting for a response from him.

“We look like a real couple here.” Jihoon beams. 

Daniel is flustered when he hears this, at how Jihoon says that like it’s nothing, especially when he’s looking at him innocently, and maybe Daniel notices how Jihoon is leaning forward on his elbows to get closer to him. 

“Then we should take more pictures together right?” Daniel laughs. He thinks he sees Jihoon flush, but nah. Must be the lighting. He tries not to let it bother him so he distracts himself by swiping through his camera roll. A glance at Jihoon and a small smile when he comes across his selfies.

“I see you committed yourself to spam my phone with your own pictures?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at Jihoon. Jihoon smiles sheepishly, but then it changes into a grin so fast before he says, “You’re welcome.”

Oh.

Daniel tries to put on his best smirk. “Cute. And thank you.”

He’s not lying when he says he is a hundred percent sober. He’s expecting Jihoon to throw something back at him, something flirty, to keep their banter going, but it seems like Jihoon has grown tired of it because he’s flapping his hands around and shaking his head disapprovingly. “Don’t do that.” 

“Do what?” Daniel tilts his head smugly. 

Jihoon’s attention is on something on one of his course books, he doesn’t answer him, only clicking his tongue and shaking his head. But Daniel has already come so far, and he’s not stopping just there. He decides to take a chance this time and there’s no way he’s going back. Before he can give thought to his actions, he reaches out and tilts Jihoon’s chin up for him to look at him straight (hell, Daniel doesn’t even know if he’s thinking straight). “What.”

Jihoon looks like he’s been caught off guard, and for a second Daniel thinks he’s got it in the bag (what), but he’s proven wrong when Jihoon grabs his wrist. “Okay, that’s enough for today.”

Daniel tries again. “Tomorrow?”

“Do whatever you want.”

At first Daniel thinks that he’s gone overboard with how Jihoon sounds so done with him, but then he catches sight of the little pout on his face and Daniel knows they’re just fine. 

He loves how they’ve gotten closer within the past few weeks and how they can play like this, and Daniel knows he shouldn’t take anything to heart so he won’t be playing a game on his own. But for now he wants to see how far they can go with just playful teasing and shy smiles in between, and if they can go any further.

 

 

 

 

“I’ve been seeing the same guy everywhere and every time I do my heart feels warm.” – d

 

After reading the next confession, he can’t help the fluttery feeling in his chest, but then he remembers how Daniel makes him feel almost the same way and it falters. He’s confused at how two different people can make him feel the same way, except that Daniel is right there in front of him, but there is something about how mysterious his secret admirer is that excites him. 

“Park Jihoon square the fuck up. You can’t like one guy, and then get swayed by another just with words.” Jihoon says to himself. 

He seeks for help from the one person he can trust. Or can he?

 

 

 

“Woojin I need to talk to you.” Jihoon crawls to sit beside Woojin on his bed.

“I’m busy.” Woojin says while reading his manga. 

Jihoon ignores him and goes on. “I have this friend—”

“And does this friend happen to be you?” Woojin snorts.

“Oh my god, just shush for a while.” So Jihoon snatches the book out of his hands and Woojin glares at him. He still leans back into his pillow and crosses his arms over his front, and he signals Jihoon to elaborate. Not like he had a choice anyway.

“I have this friend. And he likes this guy—" Jihoon starts, only to be interrupted by the one and only Woojin.

Woojin raises an eyebrow and laughs. “Is ‘this guy’ Jihoon language for Daniel hyung?”

Jihoon gets frustrated at how Woojin won’t let him get a word in. And at how fast he’s able to catch on. “Will you let me speak— and. No, it’s not.”

“Unless ‘no it’s not’ is Jihoon language for yes then you’re lying.”

Jihoon puts on a straight face and doesn’t give him an answer or a reaction, but acting this way only makes it more obvious than it already is.

“Oh please, don’t think I haven’t seen you guys in the library when you’re on your ‘study dates’. I see the way you look at him. We’ve been spying on you guys since that da—" Woojin points a finger accusingly at Jihoon like as if he’s been committing a crime, but he doesn’t realise that he’d just expose himself. And Jaehwan.

Jihoon jumps at the revelation and eyes him suspiciously. “You’ve been spying on us? And who’s we?”

“Oh no. I’ve said too much. Gotta blast!” Woojin gets on his feet and runs. He can’t tell Jihoon what he knows just yet, it’s still not the right time. He can’t let him know that Jaehwan and him have been spying on their study dates just to observe their ‘progress’. He can’t tell him that they’re devising a plan just for them to get together, and he definitely can’t tell him that Daniel is the one who’s been sending him the confessions.

“Woojin.” Woojin freezes. Jihoon caught him.

Jihoon shakes his head and sighs. “You can’t Naruto-run all the way to the other side of the room and expect me to pretend that you’ve suddenly disappeared.”  
Woojin comes out of his hiding place from the other side of the bed sulking. “I don’t know anything. I’m innocent.” 

“Right, and I’m not cute. Very funny, Woojin.”

“Whatever, you’re cute. And you also like Daniel hyung.”

“I don’t know. That’s the thing. There’s that guy on the confessions account remember?” Jihoon reminds him.

“What guy—oh.” Woojin hesitates for a second before continuing. “You don’t have to worry about that. I mean you never know what’s gonna happen when one person likes the other, and then um yeah.” Woojin doesn’t know where he was going with this. “Gotta blast!” He messed up. He better not say anything more to ruin everything for Jihoon. And especially not to get in trouble and have Jaehwan whoop his ass.

 

 

 

 

“Hyung. Tell me again what we’re doing.” Woojin whispers, because they’re currently one table away from Daniel and Jihoon’s, both of them hiding behind a single book. There are people looking at them strangely, but they aren’t paying attention to that when Jaehwan forces Woojin to keep an eye on their friends.

“We, aka the best friends Jihoon and Daniel have ever had, are going to help them out. And when I say help them out, I mean we are going to give them a hand, make them realise that they’re perfect for each other. You know what I’m saying?” Jaehwan nudges Woojin with his elbow, and turns to see Woojin glaring at him.

“Isn’t this something called oh I don’t know meddling?” 

“You don’t know what you’re saying child. I already know Daniel likes him. What about you? You’re falling behind. I need some intel, keep up.” 

“For your information,” Woojin nudges Jaehwan back twice as hard, and Jaehwan would have fallen off his chair and blown their cover if he didn’t cling on to Woojin’s clothes. To which Woojin brushes his hands off after he stables himself. “For your information, I know Jihoon likes him.”

“This is news! Now we—"

“And for your information, I have to practise for the club fair, and so does Daniel, so I have no time for your meddling. Good day.” Woojin gets up from his seat beside Jaehwan and throws the book on the table. Jaehwan desperately tries to cover himself with the book still to hide from Daniel and Jihoon. 

“I told you, it’s not meddling!”

Woojin raises his voice higher than normal just so other people around them can hear him. “Okay Jaehwan, whatever floats your boat.” 

He grins when he can see Daniel and Jihoon look their way in the corner of his eye and he snorts when an annoyed look appears on Jaehwan’s face. Jaehwan sinks down in his chair and continues ‘reading’ his book. Woojin is satisfied with the reaction he gets, so he makes his way toward Daniel and Jihoon.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt, whatever this is, but we have to go.”

Woojin almost makes a disgusted face at how fast both their expressions dropped from whatever they were sharing laughs about to straight faces. 

“Where?” Daniel asks, like as if he hadn’t been talking about it just earlier that day.

The whole situation just makes Woojin want to face-palm. “We have practice for the club fair remember?”

“Oh.”

Jihoon starts packing his things and Daniel follows suit. “Let’s go.”

“What?” Both Daniel and Woojin are looking at him funny and Jihoon has to resist rolling his eyes.

“I said, let’s go.” He repeats.

“But you never want to come for my practices. You always say you don’t want to be suffocated by the smell of—”

“Is there a problem?”

When Woojin looks at Jihoon, he thinks he sees his death. He decides that it’s better if he shuts up, and walks ahead of them before Jihoon can kill him. In his head. It makes Woojin shudder internally. But he’s not telling Jihoon that, he doesn’t have to know.

 

 

 

Daniel leans his head back against the wall of the lift and sighs when out of nowhere, Jihoon puts his arms on either side of his body.

Jihoon grins. “Seem familiar?”

Daniel is downright alarmed and it’s a lot to take in when Jihoon wants to play. He can’t move and he’s stuck in that position because he doesn’t know what to do. He can finally breathe when Jihoon lets go of the railing in the lift and chuckles. “Why is your face so funny?”

Jihoon is about to back off and give him his own space when Daniel clutches his hand before he can get away. He leans down such that his lips are level with Jihoon’s ear, and he whispers lowly. “You can’t do that. You’re being irresponsible.”

Jihoon opens his mouth to shoot something back at him and they almost forget that Woojin is with them when he clears his throat. Woojin looks like he wants to scream and Jihoon knows with how he puts on that face that says _please stop_. Woojin has that face on almost every day and Jihoon wants to laugh at how because of them that Woojin is losing it. 

“I’m right here guys.”

Daniel senses the tension and he lets go off Jihoon almost right away. “Sorry.”

Woojin pretends he doesn’t see how Daniel and Jihoon smile sheepishly at everything but each other.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not any different at the practice room, with how Daniel bounds over to Jihoon every break he gets (he calls the breaks), and Jihoon is always there to give him his water and he even dabs his sweat away occasionally. Woojin watches over them with a grimace and he wants to gag at how awfully domestic they’re being.

In the middle of practice Jaehwan comes through the door and he sends a grin to Daniel and Woojin through the mirror before going towards Jihoon to take a seat next to him on the floor. “Jihoon!”

“Hyung! I thought you were at the library?”

“Yeah, what were you doing there?” Daniel is suddenly right beside them after calling for another break, and Jaehwan side-eyes him.

“I know this is probably the fifteenth break you’ve called for, and you coming here is just an excuse to talk to Jihoon, not me, so go on your way, you need to practise.” Jaehwan shoos him away by waving his hands.

Jihoon laughs when Daniel pouts at his friend’s accusations. “It’s okay, hyung. Besides, Daniel has been working really hard.”

“Really?” Both Daniel and Jaehwan say this at the same time, but the difference is that Jaehwan looks suspicious and doubts his words, while Daniel’s face lights up right away. Honestly, he looks like a dog who’s wagging his tail excitedly at the praise.

“Yeah. Just look at his sweat.” 

Daniel sticks his tongue out mischievously at Jaehwan and he would have received a dirty look in return if Jaehwan wasn’t staring at how Jihoon wipes the sweat on Daniel’s face so gently with his towel, even holding his face after with both hands to see if he missed anything. Jaehwan even thinks he sees Jihoon rub his thumb softly across Daniel's cheek. When Jihoon decides there’s nothing he didn’t get, he doesn’t let go of him because he catches the grin Daniel couldn’t hide as his attention was fully on him the whole time. Jihoon returns his smile with one of his own, and he pats his head before Daniel goes back to the front to join his team. Jaehwan doesn’t miss a single bit of their moment of course.

 

 

 

 

 

“Jihoon do you like Daniel?”

It’s out of the blue, but Jaehwan just has to hear it for himself.

Jihoon looks shocked at the sudden question, and Jaehwan feels bad at how Jihoon looks a little uncomfortable. “Yes? I don’t know.”

Jaehwan suddenly gets excited, and Jihoon flinches when he even gets up and kneels beside him before sitting down again. Jaehwan is now bouncing his leg and he knows Jihoon is judging him with how he looks at him, but he can’t help that he’s frustrated by his friends being so great for each other, but not wanting to do anything about it. 

He blurts out the next thing he has in his head before even thinking. “But you know he likes you too! He’s even been sending you stuff on the confessions page and—"

“He’s what?” Jihoon turns around abruptly to face Jaehwan when he hears this, and his eyebrows furrow at what Jaehwan just revealed to him. He spends a few minutes taking it all in, thinking and rethinking about all the times he’s received confessions from this ‘d’ guy and he realises, he’s been right in front of him all this while. Jihoon doesn’t know what to feel and what to do with this new piece of information, so he does the only thing he can do right now.

“Jihoon!”

So he gets his bag and heaves it over his shoulder before muttering a rushed bye to Jaehwan. He faintly hears him call his name, but he can’t think of anything at the moment and disappears behind the door.

Jaehwan looks after him, and he feels really guilty, just because of him and his big mouth, he might have crushed Daniel’s chances at being with Jihoon, and he feels like the worst best friend ever. He can only tell Daniel and Woojin that Jihoon had to go home to do something important when they realise he’s not there anymore. He feels like shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so late,,,, sorry  
> ive read all your comments and im so happy that you guys liked it! and omg my writer sunbaenims (i just went koreaboo on you) hhhhhhHHHHHHHH i actlly screamed when i saw their comments   
> if this was disappointing then uhhhh im sorry :(  
> ive been writing this for rlly long and i even have the end planned out so this isnt going to continue for longer sigh  
> im a busy college student kudos to those who are but still find time to write tho!!  
> see you at the next update woo


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone is wondering, the confession page is on twitter, so the confessions are tweeted, and people can send their confessions through a separate link. sorry in advance cause it anticlimactic asf I tried though

Jihoon doesn’t realise that he’d fallen asleep while rolling around in bed, tossing and turning, thinking about what Jaehwan said. Why didn’t he see it at first? Daniel was right there and Jihoon was clueless this whole time. His friends didn’t tell him, and a part of Jihoon feels mad. But the other part of him feels lost. He knows, it’s Daniel. What now? He had fallen asleep pondering over everything, and he only wakes up when he hears Woojin open the front door for someone. 

After rubbing his eyes, he can see clearly, and it’s Jaehwan. The look he has on his face shows that he’s hesitating about something, and he’s still hesitant when Woojin asks him to _sit down, do something, don’t just stand there._ So he walks in and when he sees Jihoon, he goes straight for him.

“Jihoon.”

Jaehwan has a frown on his face and he looks like he’s about to break down when he starts apologizing over and over again. It’s too early for this, then again Jihoon just woke up and doesn’t know what time it is, and Jihoon can’t take in what exactly is going on. He raises a hand to Jaehwan to tell him to wait, and Jihoon goes to wash his face so he can actually know what words mean.

When Jihoon comes back, both Jaehwan and Woojin are sitting on his bed, and Jaehwan looks better than he did a few minutes ago. Jihoon is relieved. 

“Now talk.”

 

 

 

 

 

“--he was supposed to confess and it was supposed to be all cute and stuff but I ruined it…”

When Jaehwan is finally done, he looks up guiltily at Jihoon to wait for his reaction, but then there’s Woojin who is just clicking his tongue and shaking his head. Jaehwan glares at Woojin when Jihoon speaks up.

“It’s okay… I like him too. Right?”

Both Woojin and Jaehwan raise an eyebrow at him. 

“Hyung I was confused before this,” Jihoon speaks slowly, “but now you’ve helped me confirm that my feelings are for him.”

And only him.

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon sorts out his feelings on his own for a while, and he makes a decision to confront them. And because just going up to Daniel and telling him is too boring and not Jihoon, he comes up with a plan on how to do it.

 

 

 

“To d guy. Meet me in the library at our spot. You know.”

 

 

 

 

 

“What does this even mean?” Daniel groans. All the signs are pointing to Jihoon, and Daniel is frantic. 

“What does what mean?” Jaehwan asks, but he knows exactly what Daniel is fretting about even without looking his way. He tries his best not to erupt in laughter, especially when his giggles are loud as hell, and especially when he’s already ruined one thing. He succeeds this time because Daniel is unsuspecting of him, since he’s too busy trying to convince himself that everything is gonna be okay. Jaehwan pats his back just to show concern for him, but there’s nothing to be concerned about at all. 

“Hey if you want I can come with you. You know, for moral support.” Jaehwan offers naturally. It’s not like he’s gonna bring Woojin along just so they can watch the most iconic moment of 2018 right in front of their eyes. Nope.

“Thanks.” Daniel blindly answers him and Jaehwan runs to his phone to give Woojin the update.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a slight feeling of déjà vu when Daniel reaches the library. It’s the same, waiting for Jihoon (or not), the same anxious feeling. Daniel is still holding on to a small strand of hope that the person he’s meeting isn’t Jihoon, but the only ‘our spot’ he shares is with Jihoon. Who else?

So he stands awkwardly at the lift lobby on the floor of ‘their spot’ and waits for ‘his person’. Each time the lift doors open, he searches for even a glimpse of Jihoon, but he is disappointed? Or relieved. He starts to feel restless the longer he waits, but as he’s getting into the lift, a pair of doe eyes and a cute face greets him. Out of surprise Daniel just speaks his mind. “Jihoon.”

“Daniel.” Jihoon walks past him and Daniel instinctively follows after him. Oh look, they’re headed for their spot. Oh look. They’re. Headed. For. Their. Spot.

“So,” Jihoon starts, “What are you doing here on a Wednesday?”

The question strikes Daniel, and he stutters when he tries to think of a reason to be here on a Wednesday, which is the day Daniel and Jihoon don’t meet up on. The only brilliant thing that can come out of his mouth is “Uh.”

“I’m here for. Something.” He laughs nervously. 

“Wait. Why are you here?” Daniel asks, and he can hear Jaehwan snickering from behind him and he resists the urge to roll his eyes.

Jihoon gestures towards his open laptop. “Studying.”

“Oh.” Daniel doesn’t know what he expected. 

 

Well, maybe he expected, _hey Daniel, I’m here cause I know you’re the one sending me the confessions on the school page._

It’s then that a notification on his phone pops up, and he goes to check it immediately.

 

 

 

“Hey d. I’m here. Look up.”

Daniel was supposed to look up and meet eyes with Jihoon and Jihoon was supposed to say something cute and then they live happily ever after. But instead Daniel fucking literally looks up, as in up, at the ceiling. Jihoon groans inwardly. How can he be in love with an idiot?

So Jihoon ends up reaching over to cup Daniel’s face in his hands. “Dummy.”

He holds him there, just so they meet eyes for a few seconds like they were supposed to. “I’m right here.” 

Jihoon laughs when Daniel looks like a pufferfish with his cheeks squished and it shouldn’t be romantic, at all, but Jihoon feels himself fall deeper in love with this guy. 

 

 

 

Daniel actually thinks he felt his heart stop for a millisecond, but he still can’t believe that just happened. When Jihoon let’s go of his face, his jaw drops open but he closes his mouth immediately when he hears the sound of a camera shutter. _Kim Jaehwan, I swear--_

“How did you know?” Daniel gulps. How did Jihoon know that he was the one, and how did he know about his small-crush-turned-big-crush on him and how he was and still is hopelessly in love with him?

Jihoon’s face is coloured with a tinge of pink and he grins. “I knew it was you from the start.”

 

 

 

To regulars in the library, it’s a normal every day of the school week minus Wednesdays study date, but to them, today means so much more.

 

 

 

 

 

The next few weeks passed like a breeze, and throughout they’ve always come to ‘their spot’. But this time, they’re in the student lounge because _someone_ was too loud and got them kicked out. At least they can eat in here.

Daniel keeps his eyes on his book and reaches out for another jelly from his bag but he doesn’t find it. He moves his hand around to see if he can feel for it, and he gets annoyed when he still can’t locate his bag of gummies. He finally looks away from his laptop screen and he’s puzzled at why Jihoon has his jellies, raising the bag in his hand. “Looking for this?”

Daniel nods eagerly and reaches out for the bag, but he pouts when Jihoon pulls back, the distance between them even further than before. 

“You’re not getting any more jellies like this. They’re not good for you.” He crosses his arms over his chest, securing the bag of jellies in them.

When he sees Daniel sulking, he wants to give him all the jellies in the world, and he doesn’t notice himself smiling endearingly at him. He catches himself before he just hands the bag over and his face returns to a cold front. “Fine. You get one every time you finish one page.”

Daniel immediately brightens up at this, like as if the raincloud above his head had gone away and is now replaced by a rainbow. 

“But my dentist said I can’t eat any more than 12 a day.”

“So?” Jihoon stops halfway while reaching inside the bag to get a gummy.

“Then what’s the point if I have to stop eating them later?” Daniel complains. Seriously, he’s acting like a kid when Jihoon’s the younger one here.

Jihoon rolls his eyes and groans. “Just do your work I’ll find an alternative or something.”

Daniel doesn’t know how Jihoon is gonna find an alternative for gummies when they’re literally one of a kind, out of this world, and if there were something to replace gummies, Daniel would’ve found them already. Still, Daniel reads his paragraphs and every time he flips a page he opens his mouth for Jihoon to feed him a gummy bear. He hasn’t been counting how many he’s eaten, and Daniel has his mouth open, expecting a jelly in his mouth, but it never comes. 

Jihoon knows that Daniel is getting impatient, but he doesn’t know why he doesn’t dare to kiss him like how he’d planned earlier. He’s got another two gummy bears that can stall him while he readies himself, but soon enough, the two are gone and Daniel is still waiting for Jihoon to give him his gummies. Jihoon decides that it’s now or never. 

(This is the last time to get it right.)

Before he makes Daniel wait too long, he holds his chin in his hands to make him face him, and Jihoon can’t help but pause the second right before their lips touch to gauge Daniel’s reaction. He uses this moment to look at Daniel’s lips, but when he looks back up, Daniel is staring at him, and he can tell that they both probably have the same expressions right now. Jihoon saying that he’s nervous would be an understatement. Jihoon is nervous, yes, but he’s also scared, worried, and he’s freaking out because why’d he have to pick this moment to steal another glance Daniel’s lips.

“What are you doing?” Daniel whispers, but Jihoon hears him loud and clear even though the pounding of his heart deafens him, and he has to gulp before he answers.

“Uhm.” Jihoon bets he sounds like an idiot. “We’re out of gummy bears?”

At this, Daniel switches from surprise to an endearing smile towards Jihoon. “And?” He tilts his head.

He fucking tilts his head and as if that doesn’t make Jihoon want to explode. How can Daniel be shy one second and the next he’s a master at flirting and teasing. What the fuck. This is the reason why Jihoon has trust issues.

He has to swallow his saliva again before he answers. “This is. The alternative.”

Jihoon leans over a little hesitant, the only support he has are his hands on the ground, and he waits for Daniel to do something, anything. When he can finally feel his warm breath against his skin, it’s only then that Daniel chuckles before sliding his hand across the side of Jihoon’s face and his fingers slightly into his hair. When the distance between them disappears, Jihoon can feel Daniel smile against him, and he would punch his face if he could, but he’s preoccupied at the moment with how Daniel’s lips are soft and wet on his own, and the way he sucks on his bottom lip gets him to sigh contentedly. Jihoon’s arms slowly grip on to Daniel’s shoulders to impossibly close the distance between them further and Daniel’s hands move downwards to get a strong hold on the low of Jihoon’s back.

When they part, Jihoon realises that he had somehow gotten into Daniel’s lap, but he doesn’t move away because Daniel doesn’t let him, the hold on him still firm, but it’s not like Jihoon wanted to move anyway. 

His head is spinning, but before Jihoon can forget, he wants to drop the some-sort-of punchline he came up with solely for the situation and he clears his throat before muttering under his breath. “Was that sweet enough for you?”

He half expects Daniel to be taken aback, but he’s relieved when he hears him let out a breathy laugh.

“What do I get if I read two pages at once?” Daniel asks in genuine curiosity.

Jihoon has no idea what he’s talking about for a second, and he raises an eyebrow at him until he recalls that that kiss was for reading one page of his book. Oh.

 

“Tell you what,” A surge of confidence hits him all of a sudden, and he’s loving it.

“You complete all the work you need to do, and I’ll surprise you.”

Daniel doesn’t know what that means, but if it’s Jihoon then he’s fine with anything at all.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey.”

Daniel looks down at Jihoon who is currently lying down on his chest, and he has his arms around Jihoon’s shoulders. He feels warm, and he feels right. 

“How did you really know?”

“How did I know what? That you’re the d guy?” Jihoon smirks and Daniel can feel the heat creep up his neck.

“I told you not to say that!” 

Jihoon just loves to tease him, but Daniel lets him off all the time, just because. 

“You really wanna know how I found out?” Jihoon asks, as if he didn’t already know the answer to that question. Still, Daniel nods and his face shows that he’s eager to know. 

“Your bestest friend Kim Jaehwan told me.”

“I knew it!” Jihoon watches as Daniel doesn’t even show a sense of surprise because of course, Jaehwan would do something like this.

“He told me by accident,” Jihoon points out while taking Daniel’s hand in his own, lacing their fingers. “And without him, maybe we wouldn’t even be here.”

What he means is _maybe we wouldn’t be here like this, with my head on your chest and your arms around me, and the sound of your voice soothing me, even your loud as hell laughter, and I love it. I love everything about this, and you._

And they both know they wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for sticking with this, all ur comments are so nice and they motivate me to write so thank u again!! sadly this story is rlly short but I hope u enjoyed up till the last chapter :)

**Author's Note:**

> ahHHhHH ehem  
> sooo thanks for staying all the way and putting up with this  
> this story has been in my computer for god knows how long and ive started trying again  
> im hoping the next chapter wont disappoint smh but until then!! this has been wanna one kamsahabnida


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